Dallas is Getting Another Hounds Town & Franchisee Melissa McVey is Making it Happen!
Since opening franchise opportunities in 2015, over one hundred Franchise Owners have joined the Hounds Town pack and introduced our doggie daycare concept to dozens of states across the U.S.! While we have over eight years of franchising experience under our belt, we’re beyond excited each time we get to introduce a new Franchise Owner to our brand, and Melissa McVey is no exception. Today, let’s learn a little bit about Melissa, the background she’s coming from, and how her introduction of our model to the Dallas-Fort Worth area will bring us one step closer to making Hounds Town doggie daycare accessible to all dogs across the country!
Introducing Melissa: the Newest Dog Franchise Owner to join the Hounds Town Pack!
Melissa’s Personal & Professional Background
Over the past 27 years, Melissa has dedicated herself to her work in the financial industry, operating as a lending professional specializing in residential mortgages and mortgage loan processing for the first half of her career. Eventually, she moved into the underwriting side of the industry before transitioning into auditing and the secondary market. Now, her day-to-day involves visiting different member banks and auditing loans they use as collateral, which she has been doing for the past 12 years as a Collateral Verification Specialist.
Outside of work, Melissa recently moved from Chicago to the Dallas-Fort Worth area but calls herself a travel lover above everything, especially as she travels back to Illinois often to visit family. In her free time, she’s currently filling her days with wedding planning thanks to her recent engagement and relaxing at home with her three dogs, Sansa, Chewy, and Marley. It’s these three furry friends that first helped Melissa consider a doggy daycare as a viable business opportunity.
Making the Career Change into Franchising
While Melissa’s career has carried her throughout almost the past three decades, paid her bills, and helped her raise her children, she realized she was bored of the constant grind of corporate America. As a child, Melissa watched her parents own and manage their business, so she always had a goal of doing the same with her own career. With her own son, Justin, coming out of the Marine Corps and her job allowing her the flexibility to launch and own a business, she knew it was time to start something that would eventually provide her with the financial and professional independence to finally leave the corporate world behind for good.
Learning About Hounds Town
Melissa first came across Hounds Town dog daycare through a Biz-Buy-Sell listing, where she then connected with a franchise broker. Because of her unfamiliarity with franchising, once she found out Hounds Town was a franchise, she initially told the broker she was no longer interested, and her goal was to find a mom-and-pop business for sale instead. However, after scrolling through the Hounds Town franchise website, Melissa’s perspective changed.
“I instantly fell in love. I mean, the colors are fun, the logo, the people, the videos you see – while it is a franchise – it just looked like a fun place to take my dogs. I’m kind of funny about my babies, so I was thinking, ‘If I would take my dogs there, then why wouldn’t I want that as a business?’”
Once Melissa had given herself time to research Hounds Town pet franchise more, she discovered the simplicity of the business model and her appreciation for it. The first thing that stood out to her was our strict, no-dog breed discrimination policy. In her experience with her own dogs, as well as those around her, she believed all dogs could be daycare-friendly, no matter their age or breed, a belief that will make her a natural as a Hounds Town Franchise Owner!
Q&A with Melissa McVey
While Melissa has roots in Chicago, she recently relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and after seeing the massive demand for pet care in the region, she knew Hounds Town would fit in perfectly with her new neighborhood! As she prepares to scout locations and plan her build-out, let’s hear from her directly about what she thought about the franchise process and what advice she would give to a potential franchisee in her shoes!
“What did you like about Approval Day and meeting the Hounds Town executive team?”
Melissa McVey:“I like that they were genuine people; they were authentic and just good people that were trying to really help you. Of course, it’s a business, we’re here to make money, right? But I like the fact that they were open and willing to talk about their experiences and share. It wasn’t so stuffy. We got to the business, but in a comfortable way [where] I didn’t feel overwhelmed by it. I appreciated their approach.”
“Do you have any advice you would give to someone who was in your shoes as a franchisee candidate?”
M: “I will absolutely tell them you need to call Hounds Town. You need to find out what’s up with them because for someone like myself, being an individual, not a corporation with a bunch of funds behind me, I like the fact that regular, everyday people have an opportunity to be able to afford a realistic opportunity of owning their own [doggie] daycare. As for some of the other ones, they’re so much more expensive, and they’re more frou-frou. I would definitely tell them, ‘If you’re looking to do a dog daycare, you need to call Hounds Town.’”
Are you interested in becoming the next dog lover or savvy entrepreneur to join the Hounds Town Doggy Daycare pack? Built on our simple operational model and results-driven marketing support, our pet franchise is the business opportunity anyone can take advantage of if they’re looking for outstanding revenue potential and financial freedom – just like Melissa! Take our quick, 1-minute quiz to see if you qualify and start your Hounds Town dog franchise ownership journey now.